Bumper start to the summer season for tourism industry

The tourism industry is gearing up for its biggest summer yet after another significant month of growth - international arrivals were up 11.1 per cent for the month of November.

Figures released today by Statistics New Zealand show total international arrivals up 8.9 per cent and holiday arrivals up 13.4 per cent for the full year ending November.

Tourism New Zealand Chief Executive Kevin Bowler says all signs point towards another record summer season for the industry.

“The last 12 months have delivered our biggest tourism results on record with arrivals and spend both hitting new highs.

“Research shows us that while many New Zealanders are aware of the tourism industry’s value to the economy, not all know quite how highly it ranks.

“International tourism is the country’s biggest services export and a strong tourism industry is good news for all of New Zealand. It means more jobs, income and economic value for the whole country,” says Kevin.

China continues to go from strength to strength achieving a 39.9 per cent increase in holiday arrivals for the full year.

Australia has seen another period of great holiday arrivals, up 6.4 per cent, pushing well past the half a million mark for the year ended November.

Tourism New Zealand’s prioritised emerging markets of Indonesia, India and Brazil continue to achieve solid growth as well, up 11.7 per cent and 22.8 per cent and 3.6 per cent respectively for the year ending November.

Activity in Latin America was ramped up prior to the launch of the inaugural Air New Zealand flight between Buenos Aires and Auckland earlier this month which has dramatically increased air capacity to Latin America.

Arrival figures for the markets of the US, UK and Germany have again shown significant growth, with holiday arrivals for Germany up 11.1 per cent, the US up 12.4 per cent and UK up 9.5 per cent year on year.

“The growth we are seeing and predicting for the months ahead will provide significant benefit for many communities as tourism visitors and associated spend flows through local economies,” says Kevin.